Stray bullet hits pupil in class as bandits attack village in Kerio Valley

- A Standard Four pupil was shot and injured in Kerio Valley on Thursday, February 8 after bandits and police reservists exchanged fire

- The boy's life was saved after a succesfull operation at AIC Kapsowar Mission Hospital where a bullet that had been lodged in his arm was removed

- At least 8 people have been killed and over 20 houses torched in the past one month following badit attacks

A standard Four pupil was hit by a stray bullet while in classroom in Kerio Valley following a fierce exchange of fire between suspected Pokot bandits and police reservists barely a kilometer from the school.

The minor was identified as Dennis Kimutai, a pupil at Genesis Academy in Sambalat in Marakwet East sub-county.

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Kaben location Chief Joseph Lokanda confirmed the incident saying the injured pupil was rushed to the nearby Endo mission hospital where he was referred to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret for specialized treatment and to remove the bullet that was lodged inside his shoulder.

A teacher armed with a bow and arrows protects his pupils after bandits attacked a village in Kerio Valley. Photo: Kipkeu Murkomen/Tuko Correspondent

The bullet that was removed from the arm of the Standard Four pupil. Photo: Kipkeu Murkomen/TUKO Correspondent

“It is most unfortunate that the area has been rendered a battle field all the time. No one is safe including our children in school,“ said Albert Kibor, a parent at the school.

For the past One month alone, 8 people have been killed in Kerio Valley as a result of the incessant banditry and cattle rustling activities that also left scores nursing gunshot wounds in and out of hospitals.

The skirmishes have also resulted in displacements of scores of locals and destruction of property besides closure of a number of schools along the borders of Pokot Central, Pokot South and Marakwet East sub-counties.

The displacements have left a whole location at the border of Kamelei deserted after the locals escaped fearing for their lives.